NerdsVote reminds us that voting is a true superpower
While most nerds think that wild abilities and superheroes can only exist in the world of comic books, nonprofit NerdsVote wants to remind everyone that we all have a very important (and very real) superpower that we should be using today: the power to vote.
It’s a power that is more important now than ever, with recent months seeing marginalized groups from across the globe fight for justice by voting for inclusive legislators (and voting out anyone who’d cause others harm). Millions of people across the United States are hoping to do the same in their upcoming midterm elections, with NerdsVote — an education voting rights organization — working hard to ensure geeks everywhere are involved in that fight.
NerdsVote states that no matter who you vote for, using this right helps make the country more democratic for all, with co-founder Courtenay Taylor stressing, “We just want you to know it’s really important to use your superpower, which is voting.”
Taylor, whose voice many geeks may recognize from projects like Mass Effect and X-Men 97’, created NerdsVote in 2018 with fellow voice actor, JP Karliak. “It really was just this idea of, like, ‘How do we make voting nerd-friendly?” Explained Karliak. “We meet alot of people who have been marginalized in some way…who feel outside of the mainstream. [Our goal] is reaching out to those people and saying, ‘No, your voice does matter. Your voice is equal to everybody’s in the election process, and your vote is so important.’”
NerdsVote visits conventions across the country to share information about voting rights and help people sign up to vote in upcoming elections. They pair this with a sprawling digital presence, with nerd celebrities like Matthew Mercer and Tara Strong not only rocking NerdsVote merch but hosting digital campaigns to bring this democracy-saving work online.
Taylor raved about the amazing responses they’ve received since first founding the organization and how inspiring it’s been to see so many nerds practice their right to vote. She emphasized that their approach has never been partisan — nonprofits like NerdsVote can’t claim a political alignment — but has always appealed to the sense of justice inherent to so much geek media. “Nerds are brilliantly funny, smart, and they’re playing video games that 100% hold you accountable for your actions! The whole ‘Nerdiverse’ is about good and evil, justice, and empowering people. So [with NerdsVote] it…it just felt really like all we have to do is shine a light on that to get people involved.”
Particularly during a time when people across the U.S. are calling out alleged attacks against democracy, Courtenay, JP, and the entire NerdsVote team have urged nerds to bring this sense of justice into the voting booth. And that, if someone thinks that voting doesn’t matter because current politics don’t affect them, they want to make one thing very clear: no matter who you are, politics affect us all.
“I run into people [at conventions] who are like, ‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t care about this.’ So then, I’ll ask, ‘Are there women in your life? Do you know people in the LGBTQ community? Do you know older people, sick people?’” Said Courtenay. “And, you know, sometimes they will say no to everything. Then, I’m like. ‘You’re here at a pop culture convention. You’re here for the media, you’re here for the art, right? And that is also something that is affected by laws and politics. As much as many people don’t want to think that way, the things they love all gets touched by that — who gets to make art, what kind of art gets made, what kind of media gets sold.”
It’s because of this (and so, so much more) that NerdsVote works tirelessly to make nerds across understand why it’s so important they vote. Because it’s a real chance to practice the justice they love in their favorite media. And it’s a great reminder that we don’t have to just stop at reading about superheroes in comic books.
By voting to help make a country safer and more inclusive for us all, nerds who vote become true heroes in the world today.
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